Community GPU Forums

1. California Native Plant Society, Monterey Bay Chapter Carmel Valley Association Citizens for Responsible Growth Coalition to Protect Housing, Farmlands, Air & Water Concerned Citizens of River Road Friends, Artists and Neighbors of Elkhorn Slough Highway 68 Coalition LandWatch Monterey County League of Woman Voters of the Monterey Peninsula Líderes Comunitarios de Salinas Monterey Pine Forest Watch North County Citizens Oversight Coalition Planning and Conservation League Foundation Prunedale Neighbors Group Prunedale Preservation Alliance Ranch San Juan Opposition Coalition Save Our Shores Sierra Club, Ventana Chapter Community GPU Forums

2. What is the Product We Are Shooting for? • Achieve good planning for Monterey County; • Comply with State Law requirements; • Make use of the time and investment expended on the GPU; • Be fully consistent with the 12 Guiding Objectives; and A Fully-integrated, legally sufficient General Plan Update for Monterey County that will: • Include positive suggestions made in these community forums.

3. What is a General Plan? “The General Plan is the Constitution for all future developments within a city or county” • Provides a vision for the County’s future for the next 20 years. • The blueprint for all future growth and development. • All zoning, ordinances, and planning decisions must be consistent with the General Plan.

4. Elements of a General Plan Optional Elements • Administration/ Enforcement Mandatory Elements • Land Use • Housing • Infrastructure • Open Space • Conservation • Noise • Safety

5. Focus of Forum #Four • Infrastructure, including provisions relating to circulation, water, wastewater, waste management facilities and other public services • Noise Element

6. Basis for Community GPU • Existing 1982 General Plan • Existing 2003 Certified Housing Element • The 12 Guiding Objectives Adopted by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to frame the General Plan Update • The Draft GPU 3 document, including Coastal and Inland Areas Elements and Background Reports • Contributions from the “Community GPU” forum

7. 12 Guiding Objectives: A Shared Vision • Preserve the unique character of Monterey County • Identify land appropriate for development • Preserve a distinction between rural and urban areas • Strongly encourage new affordable housing for people who live and work in Monterey County • Promote high quality, walkable communities and reduce the need for automobiles • Promote, preserve and support agriculture • Minimize development of commercially viable agricultural land • Provide adequate infrastructure for existing and new development • Provide long-term protection of identified resource-rich and habitat areas • Protect the visual integrity of the County • Seek to provide an adequate and sustainable water supply • Provide clear land use values and policies

8. Forum #1 Summary • Over 100 people participated in the forum at the Prunedale Grange • Input from participants indicated support for using the 12 Guiding Objectives as the basis for this Community GPU • Forum discussions focused on the type of policies in each Element needed to ensure the 12 Guiding Objectives are implemented, including: • Direct new development to existing communities where infrastructure and services can be provided; • Limit new development outside of community development areas; • Encourage infill and in particular, development that will meet the needs of Monterey County residents and workers; • Create strong, clear policies that cannot be circumvented; • Require accountability for how the Board of Supervisors implements the General Plan. • Comments and responses can be found at www.8of10Monterey.com

9. Forum #2 Summary • Over 200 people participated in the forum in Carmel Valley. • Discussions focused on the Land Use and Housing Elements. • Key input included support for a GPU that contains strong policies: • To direct growth to the cities, their sphere of influence, the Community Areas of Fort Ord, Pajaro, Castroville and Boronda, and downtown Chualar. • To limit new subdivisions outside of these designated growth areas for purposes consistent with conserving agricultural and other resource lands and open space. • To provide housing first and foremost that is affordable to Monterey County residents and workers. • To develop creative and enforceable policies, including incentives, to protect and enhance the quality of life in existing communities. • Comments and responses can be found at www.8of10Monterey.com

10. Forum # 3 Summary • Over 100 people participated in the forum in Salinas. • Discussions focused on the Conservation Element, including agriculture, the Open Space and Safety Elements. • Key input included support for a GPU that contains: • Strong protections for agriculture in Monterey County; • Adequate open space and recreational areas for residents of Monterey County; and • Policies directing new development away from hazards. • Comments and responses at www.8of10monterey.com

11. Applicable Guiding Objectives: Infrastructure Element #5 Promote high quality, walkable communities and reduce the need for automobiles. #8 Provide adequate infrastructure for existing and new development. #11 Seek to provide an adequate and sustainable water supply.

12. What You Said AboutInfrastructure • Require all essential public services to be in place prior to new development. • New development should pay its own way. • Sustainable water supplies should be an absolute. • Establish and enforce specific standards for adequate public services and infrastructure.

13. Summary of Proposed Infrastructure Policies for Discussion • Direct new urban development to cities and Community Areas where adequate infrastructure can be provided. • New development shall mitigate any infrastructure impacts caused by the project and “pay its own way.” • Ensure all essential public services and infrastructure to support new development meet service level standards. • Require proof of an adequate, long-term and sustainable water supply for new development. • Approve new waste management facilities only when specific conditions and findings can be met.

14. Noise Element • Identifies and maps noise problems in the County. • Basis for determining land use patterns to minimize exposure to excessive noise. • Contains specific policies relating to noise.

15. Applicable Guiding Objectives:Noise Element #2 Identify land appropriate for development. #5 Promote high quality communities.

16. What You Said About Noise • The General Plan should direct new development away from noise generating uses. • Avoid new development that requires noise mitigation. • Use trees and landscaping to buffer noise. • Prohibit sound walls.

17. Summary of Proposed Noise Policies for Discussion • Require new development to meet acceptable noise exposure levels. • Prohibit the use of sound walls for noise control. • New road projects shall meet noise standards.

18. Community GPU “Where we go from here and whether the things that are done through planning or under the guise of planning will be any good and make our future cities, our communities, and our rural areas better places is largely up to our citizens.” Herbert H. Smith, Citizen’s Guide to Planning